Three Dog Night
The ultimate covers band. Three Dog Night cleaned up, simplified and sanitized Soul, R&B and even Rock for a pop audience. The group had the usual guitar, bass, keyboards and drums line-up. But what made them unique (for pop) was the three lead singers (a concept lifted from soul groups). Cory Wells, Chuck Negron and Monkees' reject Danny Hutton gave the group the vocal muscle to turn just about any song into a hit. They covered Hoyt Axton, Randy Newman and the then relatively unknown Elton John. "Joy To The World" was their biggest hit and most obnoxious song. However, the group did produce some good pop/Rock with "One," "One Man Band" and "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)."
Three Dog Night was a singles band with an uncanny knack for choosing songs. "Celebrate: The Three Dog Night Story 1965-1975" hits all the high points and provides some early demos and releases by Wells, Hutton and Negron. Their best studio album is "Suitable For Framing" with "Celebrate" and the raving "Eli's Coming."